The 33-foot Coast Guard vessel was rushing to help a grounded boater when it smacked into the Sea Ray, hitting it on the stern and running over one side.

Anthony died of blunt-force injuries about an hour later at UCSD Medical Center. Five other people on the DeWeese boat, including two young children, were injured.

The three families involved in the incident, all from Rancho Peñasquitos, have sued the federal government for wrongful death and negligence. Through their attorneys, they said the goal is to make the Coast Guard overhaul how it operates on San Diego Bay.

The Dec. 20 incident sparked outrage in local boating circles.

Some boaters have accused Coast Guard crews of habitually hot-dogging around the bay in their fast, gun-mounted patrol boats.

Given his experience, longtime sailor Tim Lamb said the charges were “probably well-founded.”

“I myself as a boater, if I had done the same thing, I’d probably be in jail,” he said. “The Coast Guard enforces the laws, but it doesn’t follow them. That’s where the problem is for me.”

Dewell, the Coast Guard spokesman, said there have been no changes to agency protocol on San Diego Bay in response to the December tragedy.

The narrative that accompanies the charges seems to indicate the Coast Guard believes the patrol crew simply didn’t take enough care that night.

According to the charge sheets, Ramos, the driver, should have been “well knowing that the San Diego (Bay) Parade of Lights commenced on or about 1740 (5:40 p.m.) and after sunset, and well knowing numerous vessels were throughout San Diego Bay observing the Parade of Lights, and well knowing that background lighting in San Diego Bay made navigating and operating more demanding on the coxswain and crew.”

The preliminary hearings probably will be held in Alameda, attorney Neil said, but a trial would likely be in San Diego.